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Have you ever heard of a blood diamond? These are also known as conflict diamonds. It is not because they are reddish or pinkish in color and it is not because some kind of conflict occurred during the formation of the diamond from carbon. But you do NOT want one of these and this article will explain the reason behind that.

A blood diamond, also known as a conflict diamond, is a diamond that is mined in the very war-torn regions of Africa. The operational leaders of the diamond mining are militant rebels, who are forcing the people there to mine the diamonds for them in order to fund the conflict and the war effort.

In addition, there is a tremendous abuse of human rights that is occurring at the same time in this area. It is not just that the people being forced to mine the diamonds for these rebels are not well well, they are aborted with tremendous lack of respect for human rights. It has been reported that entire villages of people have either been killed or enslaved en masse to become diamond miners for the rebels. And again, all proceeds from the mining and sale of these blood diamonds or conflict diamonds go towards funding the war.

These types of activities have been going on for a very long time, but as recently as in 2000, the entire situation has been brought to the attention of the United Nations General Assembly as an atrocity. In December 2000, the United Nations, after various studies and reports of the activities here, recognized that the role of these diamonds is to fund the war in Africa. The United Nations General Assembly drafted a resolution, where the purpose of this resolution was to stem the tide of sales of these diamonds, and sever the link between these diamonds and the world diamond market and world diamond industry.

The primary purpose of this resolution was to make the international diamond community very aware of the situation with blood diamonds in Africa and highly publicize it. This was especially aimed at making each country and especially wholesale diamond buyers aware of the source of these diamonds and what their purchase of these diamonds was funding. Consider the amount of negative publicity and bad press that could result if the general public became aware that the diamonds from a particular jeweler or diamond chain were from these rebels and served to fund their war effort and the continued abuse of human rights for the miners!

The United Nations resolution is having the desired effect for the most part. Many countries have setup their own levels of sanctions and their own methods to curb and stop the sale of these diamonds. They are emphasizing the tremendously bad press that a diamond buyer would receive if the general public became aware of their source of diamonds, and of course, due to the lucrative nature of diamond sales, none of them are willing to take on such bad press.

Next time you are out diamond shopping, do not be afraid to ask the jeweler where their company gets their diamonds. In fact, press the point and make sure that you are not helping to fund a rebel war or embrace the tremendous abuse of human rights via your purchase.